Returning the Hellhound
by End of story goodbye the end
Summary: Cassidy lived a totally normal life in a totally normal house with a totally normal sister. But one day she finds Juliet, a missing Hellhound. Now she has to find the strange camp listed on Juiets tag and fight her way through the monsters she avoided all her life and Return the Hellhound.
1. Prologue

**Returning the Hellhound**

Cassidy Braden sat on a rock overlooking a lake. She swung her feet in the water and stared at her reflection. A cool breeze blew across her face, whipping back her long straight blonde hair, causing her to shut her eyes and tilt back her head. Closing her eyes prevented her from seeing the large black dog the size of a small car barreling out of a tree. But she did notice when the dog, wriggling all over, shoved her into the lake in excitement. She squeaked in surprise as she tumbled into the icy water.

"Hey!" she cried indignantly as the dog enthusiastically licked her face. She laughed and rubbed her hands through the dogs fur. It took her a moment to notice the dogs size, but when she did she just muttered,

"Whoa, you're a big girl, aren't you?" the dog barked in agreement.

"Do you have a collar?" Cassidy searched the dogs scruff, locating the large pink collar in seconds. It had what appeared to be a huge frizz-bee as a dog tag. The tag was so large it fit many regular sized words. Cassidy turned it to her and read it out loud.

"Hi, my name is Juliet, but most call me Jules." Juliet wagged her tail at her name. "If you are reading this, it means I am lost. I am registered at . Please return me to my owner Leo Valdez at Camp Half-Blood as soon as possible."

Cassidy frowned.

"Well that's weird."

XxxxxxxxxxxLeoxxxxxxxxxxxX

Pippy, please pass me the wrench?"

A large paw the size of a hubcap delicately slide the small tool to Leo.

"Thanks." Leo took the wrench and continued to fix the hole in the underside of the Argo ||.

"Last time I take a war ship to a Taylor Swift concert." he muttered to himself. Then, he screwed the last piece into place.

"There!" he jumped up and faced the Hellhound the size of a large truck next to him.

"Alright, Pippy. Now all we need is Jules and we are off." he waited expectantly. Just Pippy wagged her tail.

"Jules?" he asked hesitantly. No bark answered him.

"Jules! Juliet, come back!" Pippy whined and sniffed a nearby tree.

"Aww, she shadow-traveled didn't she." Leo asked Pippy in irritation. Pippy whimpered.

"I'll take that as a yes." Leo groaned. "Oh, how do I manage to loose my Hellhound?" he looked at Pippy suspiciously.

"You stay there." he ordered. Pippy sat down obediently, making the ground shake. Pippy watched her master pace around, yelling for Jules and swearing at himself until he turned and headed back to the ship.

"Come on, Pips, let's go get some real help." he said, beaconing her up the ramp onto the ship. Pippy followed, wagging her tail all the way, wondering when they were going to go get her best friend.

Hi Kittens. Melissa here. I had this awesome idea and had to write it. It's just a short prologue, but I think it's cool. Anyways, backstory time. This is about Cassidy, who is a 15 year old half blood who lives in a rural area of New York, keeping her relatively safe from monsters. She has no idea she is a half blood though. This takes place after the Giant War and the campers have taken to rehabilitating Hellhounds. Leo has two trained to help him who have been mentioned, Pipsqueak and Juliet. Anyways, enjoy and go snowboarding even though it's may. Review.


	2. Scars

So now I, Cassidy Braden, have a huge supernatural dog. How do I know this? My sister told me. That's right, Erica knew I was a demigod and didn't bother to tell me. Ok, I should probably start at the beginning.

So, I was sitting on my rock, minding my own business, when this huge dog just shoves me in the water! I get up to yell at it when it just licks me. Call me a sucker, but I just laughed and let it. It was really big. Then I looked at its tag, which happened to be bigger than my face, and found out its name was Juliet, or Jules. So I took my giant dog home to my older sister Erica. She was 22 at the time, and my legal guardian after my mom died when I was 4. I ran up the steps of the huge old mansion I called home. The wooden stairs creaked under Juliet's weight as she followed. I opened the large oak door and ushered her inside. We headed down the dark hall, with it's peeling wallpaper and peculiar dusty smell. We took and abrupt turn left and ended up in my sisters yellow orange kitchen. Erica's kitchen was a perfect square, with more peeling orange wallpaper and old creaky appliances. The tile cracked, the celling was low, and the lighting was horrible. It was my favorite room. I walked over to Erica, who was sitting on top of the old yellow counter, cross legged. She was reading a Harry Potter book. She looked up when I stopped, then noticed Jules.

"Oh, Cassi! You found a hellhound! Get back!" then her green eyes flicked to its collar. "Oh, you're from camp aren't you?" She asked Jules, who barked, wagging her tail and knocking over pots in the process. They clanged loudly against the broken tile, making me wince at the loud noise echoing around the eerie silent house. Erica turned to me with the most serious face I've ever seen.

Erica is usually a really laid back person. She wears ratty clothes with holes and let's me do what I want. She's rather good looking, with shiny straight black hair and bright inquisitive green eyes, quite the opposite of my super curly blonde hair and blue eyes. But she also has many long scars criss crossing her whole body.

"Cassidy, I have to tell you something." she began, pointing at the rickety old table in the corner of the room. I dutifully sat on it.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You know those old stories I told you? About Demigods and Gods?" I nodded. Erica's carefully crafted stories of mythical beasts and Camp Half-Blood had been one of my favorite pass times growing up. "Well, they're all true." she said matter of factly.

"Oh, " I replied. Juliet woofed in agreement. I frowned. Why wasn't I surprised? Mostly, I just felt like everything made sense all of a sudden. I had never really believed Erica made up the stories, simply because she didn't have a creative bone in her body. "Ok. That makes you really a daughter of Zeus. You didn't just make that up? Well that explains how we continue to have power all these years." Erica laughed. "So, does that mean Jake Mason and the others are real people?" Erica sucked in a breath at the name, but nodded.

"Yeah, " her voice cracked at the end.

"Eric," I started, but she looked away. In the stories, she hadn't exactly left camp on good terms.

"I'm ok Cassi. But the thing is, now you know who you are you need to be trained. And I," she straightened, "Need to stop hiding. The others need to know what happened to me. I need to see them again. But we need to go about this lightly. You take the hellhound-"

"Juliet." I interrupted quickly. She glared. I glared back.

"Juliet," she amended, "Go to camp. Ask them about me. Break the news that I'm ok slowly, got it?" I nodded nonchalantly. "Cassi, please listen! Do it gently, please, for me? Then Iris Message me." I did a double take.

"That's real too? Awesome!" I grinned widely. She smiled back weakly, and I instantly felt bad. If everything she told me was real, then I felt really horrible for her.

"Sorry," I muttered, feeling awful.

"It's ok, you are excited." she jumped off the counter gently and limped over to me, patting my shoulder. I stared at her leg. She had always told me the injury happened in a car crash, but story Erica had a different tale to tell. Erica's leg was crippled beyond repair, all the bones crushed and painfully pieced back together, but she still couldn't use it properly. The scars all over her body held new meaning now I knew the truth. She told me they were from the crash, but story Erica's truth was so much worse. She frowned.

"Stop staring at me, Cassidy Olivia. Now take this and go." she limped over to the top drawer and threw a bag at me. I grabbed it. Nothing happens for a second until Erica grew impatient. "Go Cassidy! Go now!" she shooed me from her kitchen, down the old hallway, and down the steps. She waited on the old rotting porch. I turned to look back at her, Juliet standing at my side.

"Now? Can't I bring anything?" I called.

"Nope!" she shouted back, "Go away!" she waved her hands before limping back into the old building. I sighed.

"Well, Jules. We'd better get going."

Hi guys. Sorry it's been a while, but I'm super excited for this. Now, I'm sure you've all got a million questions, like what happened to Erica, or why did I mention Jake Mason? I'd love to tell you, but I won't! I would love to hear you guess though! I might or might not tell you if you're right! So please review!

Melissa.

Reviewer Responses:

KaitouKiwi: Thanks so much! It means a lot! Please keep reviewing!


	3. Bus Ride

Juliet and I made our way through the woods and away from my childhood home. I had never ever been out of my circle of woods, so I was absolutely terrified but also really excited. Juliet barked and bounded ahead of me, slipping in and out of my sight as she ran around trees. I scuffed the ground as I walked, irritated by my sisters dismissal. But the more I thought about it the more I understood. The fear shining in her bright green eyes, but also the undisguised hope. I had to help her. Suddenly, I remembered something super important.

Who was my godly parent? Was he the same as Erica's? Erica was one of the only daughters of Zeus. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to be that powerful. If I had learned anything from Erica's stories, it was that being a demigod was not fun. And being powerful was even worse. I began running through parents I was ok with.

Hermes

Apollo

Ares

Hephaestus

I was even ok with a minor god, even though that meant I would never be claimed. At this point I really didn't care, as long as I could just return the dog and get home.

_Not the dog, Juliet_. Something in my mind corrected me. I looked at her and tried to picture the vicious creature Erica had always described. The glowing red eyes and muscled black body was the same, but all I saw was a large dog, frolicking.

We continued on through the woods. When we got to the edge, I stopped. Juliet, a few feet in front of me, looked back in concern. She wagged her tail encouragingly. I wasn't afraid, per say, but I was a little apprehensive. We didn't go out much, Erica and I, and by much I mean at all. I understood why now, but when I was little I was content to stay in our little circle of woods. We grew our own vegetables, and once a month Erica went out to the store, leaving me behind. We had books, and tv, and cellphones, so I knew what the world was like, I'd just never actually been there.

I took a deep breath and stepped out of the woods. Then I followed Juliet across the grass to a sidewalk. I know, I know, very anticlimactic, but it was an important step for me in my mind. We walked down the sidewalk for a while, Juliet galloping ahead and I lost in thought, when I saw the bus stop.

"Juliet?" I called. She turned her big head and panted heavily, tongue hanging out. "Should we go to the city?" I asked, hoping she might miraculously be able to answer. Juliet barked. "I'll take that as a yes." I muttered. Juliet wagged her tail furiously. I fished into my bag and pulled out a wad of money, glad that Erica had at least had the insight to give me money, instead of expecting me to be able to go through life like a homeless person. As soon as the bus arrived, I got on it.

"Here you go!" I chirped cheerfully to the bus driver. He glared at me as I gave him the cash. I frowned back, not sure why he was so angry. I took my seat and turned to watch Juliet run after the bus. She was going to follow me.

I was gazing out the window at Juliet, when I felt someone sit next to me. I turned rather quickly to see the first person I had ever met besides Erica.

A women sat beside me, no, a girl. She looked about 17, 18, one or two years older than my age of 16.

"Hi!" I greeted cheerily. The girl groaned and rolled her eyes. "Oh lord, and overly cheerful person, save me." I joked softly. She turned to me with renewed interest. "Ooh, a fellow sarcasm lover, well met my friend, well met."

She laughed and smiled. "I like you, I will give you the honor of my name."

I nodded. "I would be honored. Enlighten me."

She smiled. "Hello new friend, I'm Kat. You?" she held out a hand.

I took it. "Sadly, my name is not Kat, but it is, however, Cassi."

"Pleasure." we shook. Someone tapped Kat on the shoulder and she turned, giving me a chance to really look at her. She had short black hair, and dark skin. She was wearing a tight black shirt and a short black skirt. Both clung to her body. The woman talking to her looked like an older more civilized version of Kat. They were arguing viciously in a language I vaguely recognized as Hindi. Recognizing languages had been one of the many things Erica had taught me to keep me entertained. Kat snapped something probably nasty at the old woman and turned to face me again.

"Urgh, she drives me crazy." she muttered to me. I shrugged.

"Never knew my parents, hard to be irritated with them."

She nodded. "My moms dead, never knew my dad either." I smiled.

"Cool. That's your grandma?" I asked, looking back out at Juliet, who was galloping along after the bus, her ears flapping free in the wind, tongue lolling.

"Yep." Kat sighed. "More like a crazy control freak. Vayu this, Parvati that." I recognized them both as Hindu deities. I needed new hobbies.

"Yeah. My sister raised me. Less of a control freak and more of a do whatever you want freak."

"Sounds wonderful." Kat sighed, ignoring her grandmother who was whispering to her in Hindi across the aisle. "Where you from, Cassi?"

"Here. You?" I answered vaguely, since I had no idea which town I lived in.

She grinned. "San Francisco. Best years of my life. But now my grandmothers dragged me here and is making me join the stupid other camp." I sat up straighter at that. _Camp...?_ Kat turned to look out the window with me. I watched her reflection in the window. Her pretty hazel eyes narrowed when they landed on Juliet. Her eyes flicked to my reflection. "Nice poodle, huh?" she questioned, studying me in the glass.

"Poodle?" I blurted, not thinking about the must. But Kat's eyes flashed with triumph and she pointed at me.

"Aha! I knew it! You're a demigod too!" I stared at her.

"_You're_ a demigod?" I asked cleverly, my mouth hanging open.

Kat nodded eagerly. "I'm a daughter of Mars, from CampJupiter. When my grandmother made me come here, Praetor Reyna thought it would be smart for me to go to CampHalf-Blood. I have no idea where it is, so good thing I ran into you." she blabbered, her eyes shining excitedly.

"Oh. I'm a daughter of who knows, and I've never been to Camp either. So yay!" Kat tilted her head to the side in a silent question. "My sister was permanently injured and captured on a quest. When she escaped, she found our mother dead and raised me in secret in a mansion in the middle of nowhere." Kat blinked in surprise, then nodded.

"Cool. Pity neither of us know where it is. All I know is it's on Long Island."

"Oh good," I sighed, "That's more than I knew. I've just got a hellhound I'm following."

Kat shook her head. "You know that hellhound?"

"Yeah, I found her with a tag saying she belongs to a Leo Valdez in CampHalf-Blood."

Kat smiled. "Well, since we're both going the same way, care to travel together?"

I grinned back, tapping my fingers on the cushy seat. "I'm in. I could use someone who's actually fought before."

She rolled her eyes. "What makes you think I've fought before, this maybe?" she held out a golden sword that had been hidden in her bag. Her grandmother recoiled and hissed something at her. Kat pointedly ignored her.

"Cool!" I reached for it, but she pulled it away.

"Get your own, this is mine!" she put it away slowly, wrapping it up in the sports bag under her seat carefully.

"Fine." I pouted, and went back to watching Juliet run.

It got dark faster than I had expected. I wasted the hours watching Juliet while Kat argued furiously with her grandmother in various Indian languages. I leaned my cheek against the window, which was cooler in the evening, when I saw the lights. I straightened, staring in awe at my first glimpse of New York City.

"Wow." I whispered, nose pressed against the cool glass.

Kats grandmother shouted so loudly I jerked away from where I was watching the city behind Juliet, who was twisting around cars, to look at them. Kats hazel eyes were dark with anger and her grandmothers face was quite red. Kats grandmother shouted something in the utter silence. Whatever Kats grandma said must have been horrible, because the minute she said it her eyes widened and she tried to take it back, but Kat was having none of it. She stood up and grabbed her sports bag, before turning to me.

"Get up Cassi. Let's go find this camp." she looked so dangerous I just got up and scooped up my bag. The bus shuddered to a halt, causing me to fall into the seat next to me. By the time I steadied myself, Kat was pushing past her grandmother and storming over to the door. She spun, her hand on a poll, and snapped at me.

"Well Cassi?"

I slung my backpack over my shoulder and tailed her.

"Venkata!" I turned to see Kats grandma staring at us, her arm outstretched towards Kat. Kat turned abruptly and stepped off the bus gracefully. I followed dutifully. As soon as my feet hit the ground Juliet knocked me sideways. She licked me all over, drenching me in dog slobber. Kat laughed.

"Some dog you've got there." she commented.

"Thanks!" I said brightly, shoving Juliet off me and stumbling to my feet. Kat and I turned to watch the little white bus speeding away, Kats grandmothers face plastered to the back window, worry etching her features. Tension hung almost tangible in the air.

"Hey Kat?" I asked, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Yeah?" she grumbled, face sour.

"Is your full name Venkata?"

"You betcha." she said in a falsely cheery tone. "Mom probably surfed google to find it. She loved google."

"Well it's a really pretty name." I tried. "Why don't you go by it?" her face darkened. I mentally kicked myself.

"Because _she_ called me it. And I'm done with her." she glared at the fading figure of the white bus.

"Ooook." I drew out the word awkwardly. "But ummmm, if we just decided not to see your grandma ever again..."

"Spit it out, Cassi." she sounded mildly amused. Jerk.

"Ummm, we kinda, are alone in the middle of New York City." I gustured nervously at the large city around us.

"Oh." Kat muttered. "Oh _crap_."

Hey guys. Review maybe? I'm going to try to update this each Thursday. It shouldn't be all that long, but still quite a few chapters. Anyone curios about Erica and Kats history? Kat is from CampJupiter, if you guys have short term memory, and Erica... Well, I'm not giving things away! I will give you one hint though: it has something to do with Luke. Think about it...

I would do reviewer responses, but I don't seem to have received any... Hang on a second...

NO! NO ONE LIKES MY WORK! NOT EVEN KIVA READ THIS! OH GOD MY LIFE IS OVER!

Ok, I'm done. But seriously, review. Ooh, and check out my poll! It's gonna be about my next one shot series... Click that little review button! You know you want to...

-Melissa the awesome possum


	4. Mental Note: CONVIENT EQUALS TRAP!

"I told you to stay outside, Cassi!"

Kat was mad at me. It wasn't really my fault; there had been a mad snake lady! Kat had gone into a friend's house for some money and had told me to stay outside.

So I had been standing near an ally, leaning against Juliet, when she freaked out. She tensed all over and started growling and pushing me with her snout into the alley. She pushed me against the wall, hiding us with her black fur in the shadows. I slowed down my breathing nervously as I tried to peak under her side. That was when I saw it. A woman with what looked like two snakes for legs! What the heck? I shrunk back against the wall, sucking in a breath. Juliet didn't move a muscle, almost not breathing. The...

_Thing_ slithered into the alley, making hissing noises as it looked around. That was when Juliet moved. She moved so fast that I almost missed it. She lunged and bowled over the monster and began tearing at its skin. It screamed. I jumped back in surprise, cracking my head against the wall. I fell sideways, my head throbbing, putting a hand to my head. I heard a hissing noise, and looked up as my vision cleared. Another snake lady was staring down at me, tongue flicking in and out of her mouth as she smiled evilly. Oh crap. I gasped and leaned away. A shadow leaped over me and pushed snake woman 2 down. Something clattered out of the snake woman's belt. I reached out and grabbed it. It was a bronze knife, about the length of my arm from my elbow to my wrist. I picked it up, deciding it might help me survive this alley, when Juliet was jumped on by snake woman 1. Snake woman 2 slithered out from her clutches while she was distracted and hurtled toward me. I prayed to Apollo, as Erica had taught me, and threw the knife as hard as I could, then shut my eyes tight. All I heard was Juliet growling. I opened my eyes slowly to see an alley full of angry hellhound and yellow dust. _Ok, that must be the dust monsters explode into..._ _And the snake woman must be a... Dracaena_. I picked back up my knife and Juliet and I hurried into Kat's friend's house. Kat was just thanking a woman when I burst in. That was when she yelled at me.

"I told you to stay outside, Cassi!"

"I'm sorry!" I cried, holding out my knife. "Snake lady, Jules, this knife." I explained.

Kat nodded quickly in understanding. "I see. Now get outside while I finish up with Mary. Go on, get out!" she snapped, shooing me with her hands.

"Ok, ok." I muttered, grabbing Juliet's collar and tugging her out the door.

When I got out on the street, I began examining my new knife. Then a car almost killed me. I flipped off the jerk and returned to my knife. As I studied the handle, I noticed several scratches. I wiped my thumb over them and realized they were words. Or I thought they were words.

_ηλιαχτίδα_

But somehow I knew what they meant.

"Sunbeam." I muttered. It seemed to pulse with heat momentarily when I said its name. "Great," I said, starting down the street with Juliet at my heels. "Now I have a weapon. Where do I keep it?"

Almost in answer to my question, I noticed a small building labeled, 'Fighting and Weapons Shop.' Well, that's convenient, I thought, heading for the store. Juliet followed me, but I made her wait outside the shop. I walked in to see a mostly red room with swords and nun-chucks and all sorts of weapons lining the walls, but no sheaths.

"Can I help you Miss?" I jumped in surprise, spinning to see a little old man, shorter than my humble 5'4, leaning on the wall next to a particularly lethal looking sword. He had pure white hair, but was surprisingly muscular for an old man. "Sorry Miss." he grinned toothily. "I didn't mean to surprise you."

I looked at him. Something about him made me nervous. "It's ok. Do you have any knife sheaths?" I held out my knife. He frowned.

"Yeah, I've got a few in the back. Come on, Miss."

I trailed after him nervously, glancing around the store. It was the poster store for foreboding. Just epically creepy. Large animal heads and weapons lined the walls, and everything in the shop was in a menacing red and black color scheme. The main animal head appeared to be a boar, which bothered the back of my mind, but I ignored the little voice telling me the fact was important.

"Here are some of my best knife sheaths." he said, pulling out a clear plastic tub of some fancy looking things that were red and black that appeared to strap to my ankle, and setting them on the counter. I tried to put my knife in one. It was too small. The next one my new knife slid out of in 3 seconds.

Over the next ten minutes we tried on all the sheaths he had. None of them fit my knife. Not even the adjustable ones. The guy found this absolutely hilarious. He chuckled every time one didn't fit. Meanwhile, I just kept getting more and more frustrated. Something about the situation just really pissed me off. Then he handed me the last sheath. I put my knife in it. It was too big. I threw it back on the counter with the others.

"This is ridiculous!" I snapped. "How can none of your knife sheaths fit my knife?"

The man chuckled. I felt a strange urge to punch him in the face. "Oh, Cassidy. I knew none of these would fit your knife! I just wanted to be sure."

Ok, that sent warning signals flashing. A creepy guy, in a creepy shop, full of _weapons_ knew my name.

**_Get out of this, Cassi. _**

Said a weird voice in my mind that sounded like Erica.

"Then why am I here?" I asked the man wearily.

"Because I have one that will fit!" he said, laughing like a madman.

I cringed away from him. "Dude, do you have problems?" I asked, pointing at my head.

He sobered instantly. "Of course not!" he snapped. "Rude child."

_Ok, someone's got anger issues._ I thought.

**_Nice job Cassi, you made him mad. _**

Erica's voice congratulated me. I ignored her.

"Where is it..." the man had gone behind the counter and was searching around underneath it.

**_This is your chance. _**

Erica's voice whispered in my mind.

**_Get out. _**

But I didn't move. My feet stayed glued firmly to the floor. I couldn't lift them. I strained, but they wouldn't budge. Then the man stood up.

"Here we go!" he stated cheerfully, handing me a knife sheath. I took it cautiously. It was beautiful, with little patterns scrawled across the warn leather. I squinted harder at the patterns and realized they were words, in the same language as my swords name, which I was beginning to realize must be Greek. The words were moving, flashing around on the surface.

_Απεργία επιφυλακτικότητα Κίνδυνος Φόβος Ενθουσιασμός Σταθερότητας _

_Strike Danger Wariness Fear Stability Excitement_.

But one word seemed to be repeating over and over, crisscrossing around the other words.

_Κάσσια _

I understood it. The word put a warm familiar feeling in my stomach.

_Cassia. _

The man was grinning again. "That is the sheath that belongs with your knife."

I stared at the swirling interchanging words, trying to make sense of their complicated dance, but all I read was Cassia, Cassia, Cassia repeated over and over.

"What does it mean?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Well don't you see, Cassidy? The sheath is just happy to have its owner back."

"But I've never had it before." I said.

He smiled knowingly. "Yes you have, Cassidy."

"But it's saying Cassia. My name is Cassidy." I pointed out.

He shook his head. "No. Cassia and Cassidy are one in the same. You were reborn, Cassi."

**Well, I took forever to write that, and it's really short, I'm so sorry. It's a little fast paced, but that is how Cassi is seeing the world. And guys, please don't think Cassi is stupid, this is her very first time being out there. She's very trusting, and doesn't yet realize how dangerous the world can be. You know if something convenient had happened to Percy or Annabeth or someone, they would have run the other way, but Cassi is new to this. Don't judge her too harshly. **

**On a second note. I have no idea what rebirth is like, but this is how I picture it. **

**Ksklus: Thank you, and I'm so excited to write that part. Sorry it took me so long. **


	5. The Minors

**The plot begins in this chapter. We really get into it. Its a little short, but you'll see why. I'll do reviewer responses here first. **

**Reviewer Responses: **

**drbuncie: Dude, me too! We have so much in common, you should review again! **

**KJtheELMtree: *sniffs* Ok, thank you!**

I blinked, then backed away slowly. "Ok," I said, holding up my hands in a placating manor, one curled around my knife and its new sheath. "I'm just going to leave now..."

"Nope." he said, giggling creepily. "You will stay right here, and I'll explain."

I again, found myself unable to move.

He sat down in a chair behind the counter with a sigh, and folded his hands in his lap. I watched him wearily. "Well, Cassia-" he began.

"Don't call me that!" I snapped.

He almost winced. I was shocked that just raising my voice affected him him that much. But then he shook it off as though nothing had happened, so I almost believed I imagined it. "Now Cassia," he said with a forced cackle. "Is that anyway to treat your elders? I just want you to listen. Can you do that?"

I didn't reply.

He wasn't fazed. "My little tale starts in the 1960s, in the middle of the woods in a small New York town. In the woods, way up in the trees, was a huge treehouse. The tree house stretched around a clump of large trees connected by small wooden bridges held together by rope. No one knew who built the tree house, though the girls who lived in it believed their parents had built it. Living in the tree were ten girls. They hunted like the Hunters of Artemis, but these girls did it to survive. They called themselves The Minors. See, The Minors were demigods, but their parents were minor gods and goddesses, which meant that they weren't welcome at Camp Half-Blood.'

'But The Minors didn't care. They lived comfortably in the trees, training and living life to the fullest.'

'There was Alesti, who was a pretty girl with waist length black hair and ice blue eyes, and she was totally blind. Her sister Gwyneth, who has the same black hair and blue eyes, helped her all her life, but in the trees Alesti memorized where everything was, and she became more independent. Both are daughters of Kihone.'

'Then there was Helena, who had large purple eyes, as signature for a daughter of Hecate, and shoulder length brown hair. '

'Then the twins, Bronwyn and Payton, twin daughters of Nike, completely identical, both extremely fast and athletic with light brown hair no longer than their ears, and pale brown eyes.'

'Zendaya, daughter of Nyx, black hair, black eyes, shadows seemed to follow her. '

'Madeline and Aeryn, a blonde and a red head respectively, a daughter of Demos and a daughter of Phobos. Both with brown eyes and an authority over the others.'

'Lastly, Lillie and Cassia, daughters of Iris, both blonde with pretty eyes, Lille's blue and Cassia's a gorgeous green. Imagine it, Cassia, imagine it.'"

I was enraptured by the story. I could picture all the people he described so clearly it was as though I had met them. I could see the tree house, feel the rough bark under my palm. I could hear a voice calling to me, yelling.

"Come on Cassi! It's our one night in the town! Don't make us waste it!"

I opened my eyes and the scary weapon store was gone. The dark gray carpet under my sneakers was gone, replaced by wooden planks. I was standing on a wooden bridge held together by rope high up in the trees. I heard movement. I looked up. A girl with long pretty blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes was standing on some steps slightly above me.

_"Come on Cassi!"_ she said, voice echoing around me. My head started to hurt. She held out a hand. _"It's our one night in town! Don't make us waste it!" _

My head pounded.

_"Don't make us waste it!"_

The world started to spin.

_"Don't make us waste it._"

The greens and browns of the tree canopy started to blur.

_"Don't make us waste it..."_

The world turned black.

_"Come on Cassi. Don't make us waste it." _


	6. Wake Up Call

**"Cassi, do you know how much I hate you right now?" **

I opened my eyes too fast. The light was blinding. I shut my eyes tight them opened them again slowly. I took in my surroundings. I appeared to be lying in a red booth in what looked to be a Indian restaurant. Kat was munching on some strange foods and glaring viciously at everyone who sent us strange looks. A women near the back of the restaurant was attempting to ignore Kats glare while whispering to her friend, both looking at me lying down in disdain.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Kat snapped rudely.

The women sniffed and spun around back to her food, friend following her lead.

I sat up. Kat looked at me, crossing her legs under the table and lounging back. She was looking particularly spectacular, and I knew some of the people looking at us were looking for her. She had her short black hair curling around her ears, and she was wearing a short black skirt and a black shirt with long flowing sleeves, which was weird because of how hot it was. Her hazel eyes were accentuated by a soft sparking purple eye shadow, so they jumped out at you. Kats entire personality just demanded attention. Behind her whole demeanor, I could see concern in her eyes.

"I'm fine." I assured her, then checked the truth of that statement. I had a splitting headache, and felt kinda trembly, but other than that I was okay.

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you going to explain, Cassi?"

I frowned. "Explain what?"

She slapped a black clawed hand on the table. "Explain what the hell happened outside Mary's house Cassi!" People turned to glance at her. She lowered her voice. "You bust in complaining about being attacked and next thing I know I find you unconscious in an alley being licked by your crazy hellhound!"

"An alley?" I muttered. "I knew I didn't like him."

"Like who!" Kat was going to explode.

I explained all about the Dracaena and the strange weapons guy and the weird hallucination thing that followed. Kats brow furrowed as she mulled it over. "Well, it sounds like you were reborn. But I've never heard of this weird hallucination thing."

"Am I supposed to know I was reborn? Is there a... Support group of some kind?" I asked Kat hopefully.

Her hazel eyes glittered with sympathy. "Look Cassi. I don't have any answers. I'm just a member of the legion who has a crazy grandmother who believes in Hinduism and hates those who don't. And she hates me as I am the result of my mom fraternizing with another religions god." she took a deep breath and steadied her voice, which had begun to tremble. "Hows your home life?"

I chuckled. "Much better than yours sounds, sorry. My sister had all the troubles, but now that I've been... Reincarnated-"

Kat shut her eyes. "Please... Don't refer to it like that. Say rebirth. Please."

I nodded, startled. "Well, I feel like... Erica's prepared. She's accepted what the fates have given her, and she's made her peace with that. But I've never really had troubles. And it's rather... Troubling." I joked, smiling weakly.

Kat didn't smile back. "Well, what happened to your sister?"

I sighed. "Long story short, she was finally happy, then she had to go on a quest. And the demigod in charge of the quest wasn't the most careful person on the planet. Long story short, one girl died and Erica was left for dead. But she was saved and she left her camp life behind. She's been too embarrassed to go back and after my mom died she had to care for me. Now she's completely crippled. One leg is almost totally useless. But she doesn't seem to understand that. She tries to use it as though it's fine, and it's dangerous for her. But I don't think she cares. She is reckless, and always will be. She just likes to be the best she can be, even if it's bad for her health."

Kat smiled unhappily. "I can tell you love her very much. I'm happy for you."

I stared at her. Did she really just say that? Was I having another flashback?

She rolled her eyes. "Ok, honesty. I'm jealous. Happy?"

I nodded, still rather stunned. "Okay then, where is Juliet?"

Kat seemed pleased to be back on familiar turf. "In Mary's spare pickup truck. We're all set to go. We should just change and then get going."

I frowned. "Who has a spare pickup truck?"

"Mary."

"Naturally." I muttered.

Kat stood up and threw some money on the table, way to much to have cost her meal. Then she pulled me by the arm into a back room a few feet away from our door. The room was dark and all I could make out was a dirty couch. She threw me some clothes and reached for her own in a duffle bag sitting on the couch. "Put those on, Cassi."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because." she replied snootily. "I need us to look ravishing to pull this off."

I looked at what she had handed me. A low cut sky blue chafaun blouse and black skinny jeans that looked much too tight. Kat glared at me. I put the clothes on. They clung to me and made me look like I had curves, which ten minutes ago I knew I hadn't.

Kat was looking amazing in a short little red dress that made her look like a teen supermodel who was just begging to be eaten alive.

Next thing I knew we were in the main room of the restaurant again in front of a heavyset Indian man who eyes were dark and on Kat. I felt uncomfortable but Kat just smiled sweetly.

"We were wondering if, in addition to your wonderful hospitality, we could borrow say, enough gas to get us to New Jersey?" Kat said, batting her eyelashes.

Heavyset's eyes bugged out. "What?"

Kat looked at the ground. "Well, see sir, we want to be actresses, and the next best thing is a modeling gig in New Jersey, but we don't have the money to buy the gas from you."

The guys eyes narrowed. Kat elbowed me hard as the guy looked at me in a way that made me want to cross my arms over my chest. "Yes, sir." I squeaked. "We could invite you to a shooting sometime...?"

I knew the minute I said that he was sold. He nodded slowly, pretending to mull it over. "I guess. I'll get my men to bring it out."

And that is how Kat and I ended up laughing hysterically as we drove down the street in a bright canary yellow borrowed pickup truck with a trunk full of mooched off gas cans. Oh, there was also a large dog in the back, with her drool spraying the cars behind us.


End file.
